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The Great Outdoors: Stainless Steel Camping Cookware
There is nothing better than getting away from it all for a few days and enjoying the great outdoors like Mother Nature intended. Imagine being miles away from anywhere enjoying the forest and spending time away from cell phones, pagers, computers and work. Many families are rediscovering the art of camping and trading in their microwave ovens for stainless steel camping cookware.
As an avid camper, I can tell you that one of the best parts about camping out is the food. There is nothing better than the taste of grilled foods over an open fire. No preservatives, no scorched microwave dishes, just good ol' meats and vegetables roasted over an open fire. Of course, you can't enjoy a meal without something to eat off of. You could use paper plates and such, but that sort of defeats the purpose of getting back in tune with nature, doesn't it? And besides, you don't want to leave a mess for the next camper to find.
A few years ago I invested in a set of stainless steel camping cookware because I was tired of having to replace my regular metal cookware every few years because of rust and damage from the heat. One day I saw a display for stainless steel camping cookware at a local department store and decided to spend a few extra dollars to see if it would make a difference and last longer – well here we are 5 years later and it is still looking as good as the day I bought it!
When you are camping you never know what type of cleaning facilities you are going to have for your cookware, if any at all. Furthermore the cookware itself is subject to a lot of abuse as it gets packed, unpacked, thrown around in the backpack and loaded and unloaded into the car for the trip. It was not unusual for me to have to replace my cookware every camping season because it just wasn't holding up to the use and abuse I was putting it through.
I was already familiar with stainless steel as I had recently added a stainless steel stove to my kitchen and was pleasantly surprised at how well it looked and even more impressed with its durability. I figured that if I could get the same satisfaction and use out of my stainless steel camping cookware that I was with my stove at home then I the few extra dollars it cost was well worth it. To my surprise, not only did it perform up to my expectations – but blew them away completely!
No matter how much washing the cookware gets it comes out looking as good as new. No more rust spots or ugly chips that can harbor germs like my old cookware set. This new stainless steel set always came out clean and intact no matter how it got treated. Sometimes it would be days before I could clean one of the items because there was no available water source nearby when camping. I could take the stainless steel camping cookware home and clean it even after letting good sit on it for a week and have no problem at all with food staining the cookware or it being difficult to get stuck bits of food off it.
Because stainless steel is lightweight by design it is also helping when it comes to packing it up and taking it to the campsite. Every pound counts when you have to carry stuff in via backpack, and by switching cookware I figure I have saved at least 5lbs – which may not seem like much, but it sure can feel like a whole lot when you are hiking!
If you are an avid camper and want a better way to enjoy cookouts than on rusty dishes that weigh you down check out stainless steel camping cookware. I have no doubt ten years from now you will still be enjoying the same cookware and wondering you how ever got by without it!